The next three chapters are out on my Patreon btdubs

Third person pov

Making dinner was a nightmare. The only competent people present were Sato and Bakugo. They knew their way around a recipe and had the skills needed to execute the meal plan. Everyone else, on the other hand, was fairly hopeless. Harper found herself taking lead and demonstrating out to do various tasks. Like peeling potatoes. Nobody fucking knew how to peel potatoes, and she had no idea why. Even if they didn't know how, was it really that hard to figure out? 1-A was a mess. 

"This is going to come out shitty." Harper predicted as she watched everyone scurry around. Kirishima stood next to her, a pile of firewood in his arms. 1-B was here too, but they were pretty useless themselves. Harper really didn't know much about them. She wanted to keep it that way, too. She was sure they had their fair share of problems. Problems Harper didn't have the time or energy to deal with. Not with everything going on in her own class. "I can already tell nobody here knows shit about seasoning. Well, aside from Bakugo, but I don't think his bitch ass cares enough to contribute more than chopped vegetables."

"Honestly, I'd eat anything right now. I'm starving." Kirishima admitted with a sheepish laugh. Harper shrugged, considering it. Yeah, she was pretty hungry. Her and her aunt had gone full send with the training, and her head hurt so bad she felt like she was going to puke. No amount of Advil could beat down the migraine raging behind her eyes. Kirishima kept giving her concerned glances and wincing a bit. "She looks utterly exhausted. And in pain, too! Can I do anything for her? I don't really know how to season anything either... man, I'm so useless! I wish I could help her! She's just so amazing..." 

Harper sighed, reaching out and patting his arm reassuringly. He looked startled by the unexpected touch, looking at her with rounded eyes and a heavy blush. Harper resisted the urge to roll her eyes. How was he not used to her yet? She guessed he was making progress. At least they could hold a conversation without him absolutely flipping his lid. Harper had to count that for something, right? God, she didn't know. She wanted to lay down and never get up. Which sounded a lot like death, but Harper wasn't exactly opposed to that either at this point. She knew she sounded like Iida pre-antidepressants, but she couldn't help herself.

"You're doing fine, Kirishima. I'm just being a little bitch. I'll figure it ou-" Harper was cut off by the clattering of wood falling  in front of them. Her and Kirishima's heads both whipped in the direction of the sound, mildly startled by the unexpected interruption. Harper blinked. Kirishima's eyebrows rose. There was an awkward silence in which no one moved or spoke. Harper really wasn't living for it. Kirishima seemed tense too, not sure just what was happening. 

Discount Kirishima-- Harper didn't know his name, really-- was standing there in front of them. He'd dropped all his wood for some reason or another, and now his arms were hanging limply at his sides. Kirishima and Harper both shared a look as the boy gawked at her, his eyes wide as saucers and his jaw dropped. Was there something on her face? Had she said something without realizing? Maybe he was in shock over how shitty she looked right now. She was still in her pajamas from this morning. They were sort of wrecked, and her hair had never been brushed, so she looked like hot garbage. Did she really care? Maybe a little, but not enough to fix it.

"Is he... okay?" Kirishima whispered to her, not taking his eyes off TetsuTetsu. "Is he turning red?"

"I have no fucking clue." Harper answered under her breath, giving the guy a weird look. His quirk was similar to Kirishima's in the fact that he could harden his entire body, right? She was pretty sure his was turning to metal though. Definitely not as cool as Kirishima's, but she supposed that's why he was discount and not premium. Harper cleared her throat, awkwardly calling out to him. "Hey, uh... you good?" 

He didn't respond, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find words. He was still staring at her. Was he shaking? Harper looked down at herself. Did he have a phobia of Coca-Cola or something? Because if so, he really needed to get that looked at. Hound Dog was a bit busy with Kurogiri these days, but he was still open for sessions. Most students were too afraid of him to go ask him for help, so he had plenty of open slots during school hours. Speaking of Kurogiri, she wondered how he was holding up. Sero and Stain too. She was particularly worried about Sero. His mental breakdown had been severe, and if it happened again, Harper wasn't sure how the Chief would react. Harper didn't want them taking him away-- especially not if she wasn't there.

"Oh my god." The discount Kirishima breathed out in awe. Kirishima's brows furrowed. "It's her. That's the girl from the Sports Festival! I-I only caught a glimpse of her back then, but-- she's... she's stunning. She looks so tired and just... she's a mess, but it's... I think I'm in love. That has to be what I'm feeling. I've never seen someone like her before. Could she be... could she be my soulmate?"

Harper wasn't shocked by much anymore, but when she says her jaw dropped, she means it dropped. The absolute horror on her face was unmatched. Because really: what in the fresh fucking hell? There was no way this was happening! She knew he and Kirishima were similar and had mirrored each other during their fight at the festival, and their quirks were similar, but this was... this was just ridiculous! There was just no actual way this was happening, right? She'd passed out and this was some twisted nightmare. She could handle Kirishima. Hell, the guy was her only close friend and she loved him. Truly. But another one? And Discount Kirishima no less?

"What is it? Why're you looking at him like that?" Kirishima whispered to her urgently. Tetsutetsu took a small step forward, and Harper took one back. Kirishima looked between them wildly. He looked at Harper's face, and then at Tetsutetsu's. He observed the boy's expression. It was actually pretty familiar, which was odd. Wide eyes, parted lips, heavy blush, trembling body. It was almost as though he--- wait. Wait, wait, wait. "No. No! He can't-- I mean, I can see why he would, but she's-- I mean she's not mine or anything, but I-- he can't just-- no!" 

"H-Hi! I'm Tetsutetsu! Y-You're-- um, you're really pretty!" Discount Kirishima blurted out loudly, his face flushed. Several of their classmates turned to look at them, eyebrows raised in question. Harper looked as though her soul had just left her body. The wood in Kirishima's arms fell to the ground much like Tetsutetsu's had. The redhead glowered at the 1-B student, looking less than impressed. Tetsutetsu either didn't notice or didn't care. "She's so gorgeous. Why is she with Kirishima? Are they friends? Or are they... no, no, we were definitely meant to be. But he is glaring at me. Does he want to fight? Does he like her too?!" 

"Wow, look at the time." The words spilled from Harper's mouth before she could stop them. She wasn't doing this today. She was perfectly fine with just Kirishima. She didn't need this Tetsutetsu guy trailing after them like a lost puppy. She was tired, had shit to do, and would much prefer if this guy would... you know, fuck off. "Kirishima and I need to go season the beef Bakugo just finished chopping up. Right, Kirishima? Right! Let's go." 

Harper grabbed his arm and tugged him in Bakugo's general direction. He followed willingly, his glare not leaving Tetsutetsu as he was dragged off. He didn't seem angry, per se, just... irritated? Harper didn't know, and she didn't care. They could have a dick measuring contest some other time. She was hungry and tired, and the night wasn't even over yet. The girl sighed. This was a problem for future her. He wasn't in her class and therefore wasn't her problem. 

"I don't like him." Kirishima grumbled, finally turning away from the 1-B student. "She is super pretty. But why'd he have to notice?! Why not anyone else but him?! I mean-- I'm the one in love with her. We're friends, too! She doesn't look horrified when I have thoughts about-- I need to calm down. She can totally hear you right now, Kirishima! And she's also... holding your arm. She's holding my arm! Oh my god!" 

"You know what, Kirishima? I don't like him either." Harper answered, depositing the red-faced teen next to Bakugo. Bakugo, who definitely wasn't chopping up beef or seasoning literally anything. He gave them an odd look, seeming vaguely annoyed by their sudden appearance. "But you what? I don't like much of anyone anymore. So chill out, chop some carrots, and I'm going to go help extinguish Midoriya. He just set himself on fire. Again."

Kirishima didn't say anything, standing there stiffly as the girl stormed off in the direction of her freckled classmate. Harper let out a breath of air. Just a few more hours. Just a few more hours, and then she could go to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a few hours, and Harper wasn't in bed yet.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She hissed. Test of courage? When had they decided on that?! It was dark. The sun? Yeah, that shit had gone down. Which usually indicated that it was time to go to sleep. Yeah? Yeah. Apparently that wasn't happening. Instead, they were going to make her tromp through the woods at try not to get scared by class 1-B, who was going to be lurking around trying to startle all of them. As though she couldn't be able to tell they were there. And what's worse, she'd gotten her sorry ass paired with Bakugo! "I don't want to do this shit. Who even came up with this?" 

"What the fuck are you? Scared?" Bakugo scoffed, rolling his eyes at her. Kirishima had been dragged off for remedial classes alongside a few of their other classmates. That Tetsutetsu guy had blown her a kiss before melting back into the trees to go find a spot to hide. Harper was less than enthused at this point. Harper was a bull in a world of shit, and that was a fact. "We're going to be a fucking killer team. This bitch doesn't flinch at shit, and her reflex shit is going to let her detect all these fuckers." 

"Do I look scared to you, Bakugo?" Harper sighed, the blandest expression possible on her face. He looked down at her. She looked back with an unimpressed glint blaring in her eyes. They just sort of stared at each other considerably for a moment. Yes, he was actually considering whether or not she looked scared. Obviously she fucking didn't! Tired and maybe a bit pissed, perhaps, but far from afraid. She just wanted a nap. Maybe she could find a nice tree to climb up into. At this point, even a cement floor would do.

"...I guess not." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Harper sighed heavily. "She actually looks fucking irked. Whatever. None of these extras have shit on us. We'll be in and out in no time flat. Those 1-B idiots are about as terrifying as a herd of wet kittens. If anything, I'll be the one doing the scaring."

Harper didn't have time to unpack any of Bakugo's thoughts before Ragdoll was sliding up next to them. Distantly, she could hear shrieks coming from the woods ahead. Harper was picking up on some of the thoughts of her classmates as well, but she was really too tired to pay much attention to anything that was going on. Instead, she just stared blandly ahead and tried to focus on not collapsing where she stood. She was too exhausted for this. Unlike Bakugo, who was absolutely raring to go. If they didn't get sent off soon, he was going to be carrying her over his shoulder like a dead deer.

"Next team!" Ragdoll cried out happily. Harper gave her a flat look, but she was ignored. Damn. "That's you two kittens! Little Harper and her blasty friend!" 

"Friend?! As if!" Bakugo raged. He was ignored. Harper sighed, cracking her neck and starting forward as Ragdoll waved them on. Bakugo slunk after her, glaring back at the pro hero. "Her and I? Friends? Obviously, but she doesn't need to fucking know that. Depresso is a fucking bitch anyway. Not sure why I tolerate her shit. At least she isn't as annoying as all the other extras. And she's helping me try to win over Deku. Deku... I wonder where the hell he is. Why the fuck is he so cute? I wish I'd gotten paired with his dumb, hot ass. Then maybe we could-"

Harper blocked out his thoughts with a sigh. She could distantly hear the terrified screams of her classmates. The sound echoed off the thick tree trunks that climbed up around them, creating an eerie atmosphere. Had Harper not grown up in these woods, maybe she'd have been more freaked out. She thought back to the nights her and her brother would tromp through the leaves hunting for fireflies and snakes. It made her feel a bit morose, honestly. She missed him a lot. But that was the past, and dwelling too hard on his death would only make her angry.

They continued to walk in silence. As they went, Harper noticed Bakugo gradually drifting closer to her as his eyes darted around cautiously. She would've snorted in amusement were she not so sure he'd blast her face off for it. Instead, she just let her quirk reach out a bit. Her head pounded in protest. She'd clearly already pushed herself to her limit. Not her fault her aunt had wanted to grind her into the fucking ground today. Whatever. If Harper was going to go through with this whole hero thing, she supposed it was best to get better at... well, you know. Being a fucking hero and all that.

"They won't see it coming." A thought snickered cooly from the... ground. Harper stopped walking, staring at the space about t, maybe twelve feet in front of them. Did she even want to know? Probably not. This whole thing was stupid. She didn't know how this was supposed to help them be better heroes. "I just know they're going to lose it." 

Harper stared with her lips pressed together in a flat line. Bakugo stopped walking to, cocking a brow at her. 

"There's someone in the dirt right there." Harper nodded to the ground, eliciting a not so subtle curse from somewhere in the bushes to their left. Bakugo blinked at her like he thought she was talking about a dead body or something. "I think it's a quirk. Just veer to the left and we'll avoid them. Unless you want to step on them or something." 

Bakugo grinned ferociously, answering her words without using any of his own. They passed somewhat peacefully. Harper flipped off the two students in the trees waiting to jump out at them, and Bakugo nailed the girl who popped out of the ground in the face with his foot. It was nice to see gender equality out on the field, even if they technically weren't supposed to come in contact with one another. When all was said and done, they could just lie out of their asses and say they didn't realize she was going to come out of the literal dirt. 

The 1-B students didn't try to stop them as they went on their merry way, but they did pop their heads out to watch them go with disdainful expressions on their faces. Harper didn't give a shit. Her feet were practically dragging at this point. She was also starting to get pretty chilly. The air was surprisingly cool out despite it being summer. Or maybe she was just developing a cold. That would be ass. It was the last thing she needed right now, too. Though at this point, she really didn't need much of anything aside from some hardcore painkillers and a short coma. 

Bakugo cackled as they walked, still cracked up over the fact that they didn't get jumpscared. Harper walked alongside him with her arms crossed, yawning. They were getting close to the middle checkpoint now, luckily. How long had they been walking now? She didn't know. She just wanted it to be done and over with so she could pass out. Maybe Aizawa would let her sleep in again. Assuming her body let her, that is. Harper could dream. At least she'd gotten last night. The extra sleep had gone a long way. She wasn't sure she'd have made it through the day without it.

As they kept walking, Harper noticed that there was a... weird smell in the air. It was enough to make her head raise and her brows furrow. Her ears strained. It was quiet as well. Too quiet, actually. Her gaze flitted around, her quirk reaching out as far as she could stretch it. There wasn't anyone in their general vicinity. But there was definitely something going on. Her quirk spun out a bit further, straining painfully. Resisting the urge to grab her head and massage her temples, she clenched her eyes shut and listened.

"There another fucker trying to scare us, Depresso?" Bakugo asked, noticing the look on her face. Harper didn't reply, stopping in her tracks. Her brows furrowed as she reached out a bit further towards the end of the trail. Her quirk stretched taut like a rubberband, threatening to snap back and knock her out if she pushed it much further. Harper ignored the pain, listening closely. It felt like the world was slowing down around her, and her heart was speeding up. Her eyes popped open wide. 

Bakugo flinched, surprised by the terrified look on Harper's face. A shuddering breath left the girl. She looked... she looked like she was about to cry, oddly enough. She didn't seem like the type, but the fear on her face was so raw and clear that it made a shiver shoot down his spine. He froze as her hand shot out and grabbed his forearm. She was shaking, and her wide eyes met his with an urgency he'd never seen in her before. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her look so awake and alert. And so pale. It was all so sudden that he had no idea how to react.

"Bakugo." She breathed out, her voice quiet and scared. Adrenaline raced through her veins, sudden and startling enough to make her forget the pain in her head and the exhaustion settled in her chest. "We need to go find my cousin Kota. Now."